Disclaimer: MLP and PR are not mine. Italics mean thoughts or telepathic communications and words [like this] are words on a screen. Author's Note is at the bottom for those playing at home. Enjoy…and please remember this is an AU…

Chapter 13: Zord

Billy collapsed on the floor of the Command Tower as he painfully looked on the remains of his Morpher. The outer shell still looked as it had before but the rim around the centre was ringed with fresh scorch marks. The Coin was gone from this plane of existence already. What little power remained in it would be dividing itself amongst the other Ninjetti. As he faintly heard Celestia's exclamation of shock at his appearance, he morbidly wished that they thought him dead. Seeing as how he was unlikely to return, it would be for the best. He only hoped Zedd didn't amass enough power to break through the dimensional barrier…but he was unlikely to do so.

As he weakly rose to his feet, he tapped a few buttons on the console in front of him. Thankfully his emergency teleporter had recalled him before the calibrations were complete. Struggling to stay conscious, he scanned the readout on the screen and tweaked a few settings. As he feverishly worked, he mumbled to himself.

"Check power output…cannon is stable. Transformation circuits all seem to check out. All armaments loaded and ready. Motion control calibrated for her weight and wing flutter. Connecting modules in place and fully functioning…"

"Celestia, I have returned from my prison. You took away my freedom and now I will take away your life!"

Billy jumped up startled and grabbed his head in pain as the soundwaves reverberated through his skull. Celestia jerked her head up and swallowed hard. She had not heard that voice in hundreds of years but she still remembered it in her nightmares. In a burst of darkness, Princess Luna appeared in the Command Tower, having teleported herself from her personal chambers.

"Sister, what is that voice? Who is that?"

Without waiting for the regal alicorn's response, Billy weakly slapped the same button as before and spoke to the Rangers.

"Rangers, the creature in front of you is Discord. Who is free to engage him?"

Various grunts of negation came back intertwined with the sound of laser blasts, hoofstomps and shattering Z Centaurs. After a short pause, a quiet but determined voice was heard.

"I'll go."

Billy nodded once over the shouted protests of the others amidst the explosions and blasts. Once a Ranger had made up his or her mind, there would be no stopping them until they had their fill. Raising himself up on his arms, he tapped a string of commands into the console and brought up a progress report that pleased him. He opened his mouth to speak when a wave of dizziness sent him collapsing to the floor in a heap. He was barely aware of the Princess calling for her sister and galloping to his side. He feebly waved them away and raised himself to his knees. He had to send Fluttershy her weapon.

"Fluttershy, I have just connected your Powers to the Kindness Harmony Zord. When you wish to summon it, raise your hand…er, hoof into the air and shout 'I need Harmonyzord Power now!'. The controls are based off your own movements to make it as smooth as possible. Go now and may the Power protect you…"

With the final syllable dying on his lips, Billy crashed to the ground once more unconscious from the violent destruction of his Power coin.

Canterlot Courtyard

Fluttershy gulped nervously as Discord came closer. She knew she was the only one who had to drive Discord off, but she was deathly afraid both of fighting and of doing nothing. Seeing Billy place himself in danger had reminded her that she needed to be strong in times of doubt and fear. Shaking slightly, she tried to push all of her fear and timidness to one side.

It didn't work, but she had to press on. She raised her front right hoof into the air and shouted as triumphantly as she could.

"I n-need H-Harmonyzord P-Power, Now!"

Unfortunately, her nervousness had caught up with her voice and all that came out of her mouth was a jumbled squeak. Growling at herself, she shook her head once to clear all the unneeded emotions from her mind and tried again.

"I need Harmonyzord Power NOW!"

In a bright yellow flash, the Kindness Harmony Zord materialised in the bright skies above Canterlot. Fluttershy blinked once as her gaze fell on it. Either by chance or by deliberate design, the Zord looked exactly like her – right down to the trio of butterflies on the flanks and the Element Crystal around her neck. Gasps and cries of surprise came from the remaining Rangers who had just finished off the final Centaur.

"So much fer keeping our identity secret…"

As soon as she heard Applejack's words, Fluttershy leapt into action. Propelling herself upward, she felt herself being drawn into the line-of-sight teleporter that she suddenly knew about. In truth, the sudden information overload was making her brain hurt but she relaxed her mind and let it all flow in and out smoothly. When the sparks faded from her vision, she looked around the cockpit for the first time.

She was standing on an oval platform which was surrounded on all sides by odd cubes affixed to long poles. It was somewhat reminiscent of a cage, but allowed much greater manoeuvrability and a tighter turning circle. Directly in front of her was a large viewing screen that stretched from floor to ceiling and, based on the information currently flowing on her visor in tandem with in her brain, was providing real-time intelligence on the enemy in front of her as well as battle strategy and weapon choices. Gritting her teeth, she moved to fly forwards and was taken off guard at the responsiveness of the system. Shaking her head lightly, she righted herself again and charged.

Discord blinked once he saw the machine appear. It seemed pony technology had advanced to the point where they would be a challenge for him in his giant form. He snapped off his dimensional link and smiled widely; exposing his brown teeth. He opened his arms wide and waited for the first attack from the new challenger. After a few false starts, the yellow Pegasus shaped construct raced at him with both front hooves outstretched. He had just enough time to draw his xiphos from his belt before it did something strange. Both hooves split down the middle and separated, revealing an empty space. Puzzled, he lowered his short sword and scratched the side of his head.

You idiot! They are attacking you with a zord! Defend yourself!

Wincing at his Lord's mental message, he looked up just in time to be hit with a volley of hard light blasts from the robotic pegasus' hooves. Staggering back he lifted his short sword and thrust it at the construct. Instead of connecting with metal, the blade shot out a burst of red energy from the tip. As the construct deftly avoided the wide shot, Discord stared at his xiphos in shock. He knew it was an ordinary short sword that had been specially forged for him by the traitor Shining Light, but it had never shown any inherent magical properties until now. Briefly, he wondered if his Lord had something to do with it, but dismissed the thought. Whether or not it was the case, he would do his Master's bidding…until his back was exposed.

In her Zord, Fluttershy was still trying to work out what combination of actions did what. Billy was presumably out of commission or resting and the others had finally managed to destroy the last Z Centaur, but hadn't been hooked up to their zords yet. Still, she had to do whatever it took for Discord to leave. Whipping her head up high, she accidentally selected one of the weapon options she was hoping to leave for last.

[Activate Element Megabuster]

Behind her helmet, Fluttershy cringed weakly. The Megabuster sounded like it would do a lot of damage if it missed and the only thing around was the Everfree Forest. On the screen appeared something she had recently seen – the image of the circle and cross that Billy had said were called 'crosshairs'. Slowly and meticulously, she moved them over Discord's image and nodded once.

[Megabuster Locked On]

"M-Megabuster, Fire!"

From the centre of the enlarged Element Crystal pulsed a pale yellow light. Discord had only enough time to squint in confusion before a large stream of bright yellow energy impacted violently against his chest plate. He screamed out in pain as the metal superheated rapidly and all but seared his chest. As the energy stream faded he dropped to one knee, his body heaving with pain. He didn't have to look down to see that his armour had barely survived intact and had pretty much fused into his chest. Raising himself to his feet once more, he flicked his tail in annoyance and snorted.

He nodded once at the machine as a show of false respect before turning around and walking away. After all, the seeds had been planted by him with instruction from his Master. As he reached the boundary of the Everfree Forest, he called out over his shoulder before vanishing into the leafy depths.

"You win this round, Celestia. Make no mistake; though my master wants to destroy you, I will be the one to utterly break you."

TBC…

Author's Note: Last few chapters had Day of the Dumpster references. This one references High Five, especially the battle with the Giant at the end. As Discord is a lot stronger than an average monster, he survived the finisher. And before I get a host of PMs saying that everything is out of canon, this is an AU (Alternate Universe) of both dimensions.

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Author's Note

Billy connects Fluttershy's Harmonyzord to her. Continuation of the previous chapter when Billy's Power Coin was destroyed and Fluttershy saw that there is nothing good in Zedd's creatures.